September is always a busy month for me, and typically I don’t get the luxury of reading the new significantly, but this time was different.
Continue readingAuthor: Marie Snyder
A Puff of Absurdity: On Anita Hill
My time at university was split down the middle by the news of the Montréal Massacre, and the subsequent years were plagued with fears of
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Hedges’ Talk on America: The Farewell Tour
I was able to get a seat to see Chris Hedges at CIGI in Waterloo. It was a packed house with a full overflow room
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Culture Wars
I just finally got around to Angela Nagle’s Kill All Normies. It’s a comprehensive book outlining the history and categorization of various groups online that
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On the Climate Emergency
Lots of bleak news these days. The fires sweeping through Canada and the U.S. this year, at least, for the thinnest of silver linings in
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Censorship Quiz
I’ve been reading Bob Altermeyer’s book on authoritarianism written in 2006. Here’s a censorship quiz (p 84) that perhaps can help people recognize that few
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Internet Haters
Here’s how I see it: If two people who are equally matched have a fight, the loser can still save face. It was a fair
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Transgressions
I’ve been enjoying a podcast “This Jungian Life,” in which three Jungian analysts discuss various questions. This one in particular discusses the difference between sin and
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Manne’s "Down Girl"
With thorough argumentation and heavily footnoted facts brought to the table, Down Girl, by Kate Manne delineates misogyny from sexism and hopes “to offer a
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: End of an Era: On Buying My First Car
I bought a 2009 Kia Rio. I went with a friend because I had no idea how it all worked, and I had lots of
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Discovering Ourselves Through Choosing Others
Online dating, or, I suppose, regular dating (but I barely remember what that even is anymore) is a fascinating exercise in identity discovery. To take part
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Music is a Necessity
. . . After food, air, water, and warmth, music is the next necessity of life. ~ Keith Richards Things are really messed-up. The kids
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Half Earth
The headline says, Scientists call for a Paris-style agreement to save life on Earth. Monbiot says this often, and E.O. Wilson, and so many others.
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: First Time for Everything
I wonder what would have happened to Sleeping Beauty had she slept for, oh, say 20, 30 years or so, but continued to age. I’m
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Progress or Ruin
Monbiot’s recent article sits in my belly like lead: As a child and young adult, I delighted in being able to identify almost any wild
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: The Trouble with Relativism
From a comment on a social media post advocating that we stop protesting people with Trump hats: “The trouble with refusing to serve someone because
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Right to Free Speech, not to an Audience
In Brian W. Van Norten’s article in today’s New York Times, “The Ignorant Do Not Have a Right to an Audience” he carefully argues the
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: On Limits to Free Speech: Hate Crime Laws and Defamation Suits
Watching the excellent series The Handmaid’s Tale, at first I questioned the glaring lack of racism in the show. It’s supposed to be happening just
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Left Wing Opposition Rebuttal
Here’s a facebook response to my previous post about left-wing ideology, and the post included a link to this article about Peterson. First claim: the left
Continue readingA Puff of Absurdity: Defining the Left
This is a continuation of my previous post on the political correctness issue raised in last week’s Munk Debates with Jordan Peterson, Michelle Goldberg, Michael
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